Inland Revenue raises Rs. 164.8 b in 2004

by Bharatha Malawalaarachchi and Ranil Wijayapala

The Inland Revenue Department has collected Rs. 164.8 billion as tax revenue for the Government in 2004 contributing 52.91 per cent of the Government revenue for that year.

This is 9.17 per cent of the GDP.

This was disclosed in the Performance Report of the Inland Revenue Department for 2004 presented to Parliament by Mass Media and Information Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa on behalf of the Finance Minister. The Department has been able to collect this amount in the form of 10 taxes. The highest tax collection Rs. 117 billion (Rs. 117,030.9 million) is from the Value Added Tax. That represents 71.01 per cent of the total tax collection of the Department for 2004.

The second highest tax collection - Rs. 37.9 billion - has been recorded in the form of income tax. The taxes in default for the year has been estimated at Rs. 95 billion (Rs. 95,061,469,969). More than Rs.38 billion in the form of Value Added Tax and Rs. 20.21 billion in the form of Goods and Services Tax are in default for 2005.